Lee Thompson

Lee Thompson

Hilltop Lakes

Lee Roy Thompson, 82, passed away at his home in Hilltop Lakes. A funeral service will be held at 11:00am, Thursday September 24, 2015, at First Baptist Church of Buffalo Gap, Burtis William officiating; directed by Fry~Smith Funeral Home, Tuscola. A visitation will be held from 6 to 8pm at the funeral home on Wednesday, September 23.

Lee was born September 14, 1933, in Taylor County. His family moved to Fisher County at a very young age. He attended Sweetwater High School where he played football and met Veda Schlueter. They were married on October 6, 1951, and Jimmy Lee Thompson was born on July 7, 1952. Lee was injured in an oilfield accident that left him a paraplegic. He spent the next 1 1/2 years at Oklahoma A&M Tech where he rehabbed from his accident and learned architectural drafting. While at A&M Tech he played wheelchair basketball and became extremely independent.

Lee was a self-made businessman. He designed and built many houses, offices, churches, and nursing homes in Abilene and The Big Country. Lee was a longtime member of the Southwest Optimist Club and many other professional organizations. He and Veda were members of Elmcrest Baptist Church for 38 years, where he was a deacon for most of that time. They moved to Buffalo Gap and joined First Baptist Church Buffalo Gap.

In his Lee's younger years, he would work all week on his construction jobs and then he and his family would load up and go to their farm in Fisher County to either work or play on the weekend. It was usually work. There was not anything that he would not try to do. He never let his disability get in the way of anything of work. He would plow fields by pulling himself up onto the tractor and then tie his crutches to the side. If he wasn't on the tractor, he was working cattle, building fence, or helping his girls with their horses. When Lee worked cattle, he would sit on a bucket next to the squeeze chute and close it on the cattle as his family ran them through. He would trim their horns, brand them, medicate them and then let them go. When Lee would build fence it was by scooting himself along the ground. His barbed wire gates were so tight that most everyone found them difficult to open and close.

Lee loved to fish. Any chance he had to fish, he was fishing. He would lower himself down the ladder of the dock into his bass boat and fish for hours. That was his relaxation. He was quite an amazing man, husband and father.

Lee is survived by his wife, Veda Marlene Schlueter of Hilltop Lakes; daughters, Caryn Thompson and husband David Mantooth of Hilltop Lakes, Traci Ratliff-Smith and husband Steve Smith of Hilltop Lakes; daughter-in-law, Melissa Thompson of Childress; brother, Bobby Thompson and his wife, Mari of Roby; two sisters, Barbara Mardis of Sweetwater, and Sue Turpin and husband, Steve of Sweetwater; one sister-in-law, Jeri Hulme and husband, Darrell of Abilene; James R. Ratliff, III "Tres" Ratliff and wife, Cristy of Abilene, Texas, David Lee Ratliff and wife, Alyssa Morales of Houston, Texas, and Aaron Taylor Ratliff of Hilltop Lakes, Texas, three granddaughter, Eileen Marie Pratt and husband Dustin Pratt of Childress, Elaine Sheri Brazee of Dublin, and Shonna Wagley and Bobby Krupp of Winnie; ten great-grandchildren, and many nieces and nephews.

Lee was preceded in death by his parents, Bob and Stella Thompson; son, Jimmy Lee Thompson, sister, Bessie Stephens, brother, Charles Thompson, sisters-in-law, Dorotha Thompson and Mary Ann Thompson, and brother-in-law, James Mardis.

In lieu of flowers donation may be made to the Buffalo Gap Cemetery Association, P.O. Box 841, Buffalo Gap, Tx 79508 or Hilltop Lakes VFD, P.O. Box 1884 Hilltop Lakes, Tx 77871-1884.

Condolences can be left at www.fry-smith.com.